The Indian Air Force (IAF) purchase of 126
Rafale fighters has made global headlines, and the Indo-Russian Fifth
Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) could be another jaw-dropper. But Indian
military aviation could see an even more prominent growth area in helicopters,
where the defence services are poised to induct well over a thousand rotary
wing aircraft in the coming decade, the majority of them developed and built in
the country.

Already on the anvil for the army, IAF,
navy and coast guard are the following:

The IAF is inducting 139 Russian Mi-17 V-5
medium lift helicopters, for an estimated $2.4 billion. The workhorse Mi-17,
which transports 26 soldiers in combat gear, or 4 tonnes of supplies to high
altitude posts, has been in IAF service for decades, but the new-model V-5 is a
vastly superior machine, with new engines, rotor blades and avionics. An IAF
order for 80 Mi-17s is already being delivered, which is likely to be followed
by an order for 59 more.

Fifteen American CH-47 Chinook heavy lift
helicopters will be bought to replace the IAF’s Russian Mi-26 helicopters, of
which just 3-4 remain serviceable. The Chinook, built by Boeing, has seen
extensive combat, most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan. The IAF has evaluated
the helicopter and is please with its avionics and power, which allows it to
accurately deliver 50 fully equipped soldiers, or a payload of 12.7 tonnes,
onto the roof of a house or the edge of a cliff.

The IAF has also completed trials for the
purchase of 22 medium attack helicopters, and homed onto Boeing’s AH-64 Apache.
Attack helicopters, which operate from close behind the forward troops, provide
immediate fire support --- cannons, rockets and anti-tank missiles --- to
soldiers that encounter the enemy, providing them a battle-winning advantage.
Unlike most other countries, India has chosen not to use attack helicopters in
counter insurgency operations for fear of collateral damage.

The IAF and army have also placed a Rs 7000
crore order for 159 Dhruv Mark III utility helicopters. These have been
designed and built by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which builds 36 Dhruvs
each year. There is an estimated need for more than 350 Dhruvs for the army,
IAF, coast guard and paramilitary forces.

The navy is buying an additional 50 light,
twin-engine helicopters, most probably from Agusta Westland. The Dhruv does not
meet its needs since its composite rotors cannot be folded up for stowing the
helicopter in a warship’s tight confines.

In addition, the navy is procuring another
91 medium, multi-role helicopters to replace its vintage Sea King fleet, which
flies from larger frigates and destroyers. A global tender is out for 16
helicopters, to which another 75 have been added.

Riding on the Dhruv’s success is HAL’s
Rudra, a heavily armed version of the Dhruv, which carries a cannon, rocket
pods, anti-tank missiles and a full suite of electronic warfare (EW) equipment.
The army and the air force will buy 76 Rudras.

HAL is also developing the Light Combat
Helicopter, of which 179 are on order (IAF 65; army 114). This 5.5 tonne light
armed helicopter features the Shakti engine, the Dhruv’s dynamic components
(main rotor, tail rotor, and the gearbox), and the weapons suite that is being
developed on the Rudra. The LCH will be a high altitude virtuoso: taking off
from Himalayan altitudes of 10,000 feet, firing guns and rockets up to 16,300
feet, and launching missiles at UAVs flying at over 21,000 feet.

The military’s other bulk requirement is
for 384 light utility helicopters, or LUH’s, to replace the army and IAF’s
obsolescent Cheetahs and Chetaks. This has been divided into two streams: 197
LuHs are being bought off-the-shelf through a global tender; and 187 LuHs are
being developed and built in India by HAL. To ensure timely delivery, the MoD
has specified target dates for HAL’s development milestones: building of a
mock-up; the design freeze; the first flight; Initial Operational Clearance,
and so on. Each time HAL misses a milestone its order reduces from 187.

Unlike the IAF’s fixed wing aircraft
acquisition plan that focuses on foreign buys, its rotary wing plan leans
towards indigenisation. This after a strategic assessment in the mid-1990s,
when Ashok Baweja was HAL’s chairman, that indigenisation could be
realistically pursued in the less challenging rotary wing field than in the
cutting-edge realm of fighter aircraft.

This policy drew strength from the
technological breakthroughs of the Dhruv helicopter and the Turbomeca-HAL
Shakti engine. Both these were optimised for high altitude operations up to
20,000 feet, a unique feature in the Indian Army’s operating environment.

P Soundara Rajan, HAL’s helicopter chief,
says the Bangalore-based division will ramp up turnover from the current 10% of
HAL’s turnover to 25% a decade from now. Having taken 40 years to build its
first 700 helicopters, which were basic second-generation machines, HAL aims at
building another 700 fourth-generation within the next 15-20 years.

HAL and MoD must ensure commercial success for all the DRDO developed products. Total lack of efforts to increase the manufacturing and export of such DRDO developed defensive weapon systems like helicopters (ALH Dhruvs); missiles (Nag, Aakash, Helina etc.); Radars, Naval vessels etc. appear to be influenced by foreign power and agents of MNCs. The threat of war will reduce globally if India starts exporting indigenously developed weapon systems.Helicopter is a strong area for both HAL and India. HAL must augment its manufacturing capacity of ALH, Dhruvs to sixty per annum. There must be spare manufacturing capacity for the upcoming LCH. HAL must improve its export efforts and sell ALH to friendly and neighboring countries. Surprisingly, effort of HAL to export ALH, which is one of the best in its category, is totally lacking. The development of LCH is very slow. More units of LCH need to participate in testing for early IOC/FOC. LCH is likely to shift the power balance with Pakistan in India’s favour. Please remember one of the main reasons of India’s supremacy in Siachen is ALH Dhruv. There was a plan to develop a Medium Capacity Helicopter. Successful development of this helicopter will make India one of the leaders in Helicopter technology and production. HAL must be privatized partially to improve its efficiency and sells.